CVE-2024-9161

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings <= 1.0.228 - Missing Authorization to Unauthenticated User and Term Metadata Insert, Update, and Delete

2024-10-04 00:00
Leo

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 1.0.229
Affected Plugin
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings
Affected Version
<= 1.0.228
CVSS
6.5Medium
Weakness type
CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE
CVE-2024-9161
View all Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2024-9161 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Rank Math SEO WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.0.228. It carries a CVSS score of 6.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.0.229; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2024, reported by Leo.

Vulnerability Overview

The Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification and loss of data due to a missing capability check on the 'update_metadata' function in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.228. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to insert new and update existing metadata beginning with 'rank_math', and delete arbitrary existing user metadata and term metadata. Deleting existing usermeta can cause a loss of access to the administrator dashboard for any registered users, including Administrators.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user.

CWE-862: Missing Authorization

Rank Math SEO <= 1.0.228 carries this weakness at update_metadata, and reaching it takes no account at all. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.

Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For Rank Math SEO the fix is 1.0.229: builds <= 1.0.228 are affected, anything from 1.0.229 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.0.229, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

This one needs no account at all, which puts it outside what login hardening can reach; WordSec's login security narrows the account-level paths around it, and the firewall is what inspects the request itself. None of that substitutes for the fix: Rank Math SEO 1.0.229 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-9161https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/7df39a64-76c5-4ebe-a271-44bd147a3a86https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-9161

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C